When Jason Saldivar, 36, is released from Beaumont's federal prison Thursday, he won't have his four children to return home to.

Saldivar's four children — Daisey, 6, Devy, 16, Dominic, 15, and Xavier, 8 — drowned in a van Aug. 27 in Greens Bayou in east Houston after Hurricane Harvey hit.

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The bodies of the Saldivar family including grandparents Belia, 81, and Maneul Saldivar, 84, and grandchildren Daisey, 6, Devy, 16, Dominic, 15, and Xavier, 8, were discovered by the Harris County Sheriff’s Office in the van they were last seen in on Wednesday, August 30, 2017.

Saldivar is finishing up a six month prison term in Beaumont due to a parole violation, he told Chron.com Wednesday morning during a brief pre-paid phone call from prison. In 2010, Saldivar was charged twice in a case involving the intent to distribute more than 220 pounds of marijuana, according to United States federal court documents obtained through PACER.

Saldivar first heard of the death of his children Aug. 29 after another inmate let him use their prepaid phone minutes to talk to his family.

"I was shocked. I thought it was a cruel (expletive) joke," Saldivar told Chron.com. "I really was in shock. I didn't think it was real. Those kids on TV, that's got to be somebody else. That's not my family."

The children's great grandparents, Belia, 81, and Maneul Saldivar, 84, also died in the van. The family was trying to escape rising flood waters in Houston, the Washington Post reported.

Family members told Chron.com after the van was found that it was being driven by family member Sammy Saldivar, who was able to escape. Sammy was found Aug. 30 clinging to a tree near the van, which was submerged in 4 feet of water at the time, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said that day.

"If I was out, I could've prevented this," Saldivar told Chron.com.

Harris County Sheriff's Office

A van that was holding six family members was discovered in a bayou amid flooding from Hurricane Harvey.

The death of the six Saldivar family members was some of the first from Harvey to capture national headlines.

Saldivar was held in Beaumont's federal prison, which has been overrun by rumors of inmate mistreatment and poor living conditions following Harvey. The funeral for the children is Monday and Saldivar will attend, the children's mother, Blanca, told Chron.com.